"So you stayed with me a couple of times when you just didn't have a place to go, or we needed to go pick you up," Lisa says.

"And I remember when you spent Thanksgiving with my family," she continues. "I taught you how to make a pumpkin pie. That was a really special Thanksgiving, because I had my immediate family — my husband, my children, my grandmother — and you were there. I had everybody there that I truly loved."

"Well, I, for a long time in my life, didn't have that experience to even call somebody a mom. But just to see you — the way you took care of me — that's how a mom should act," Rogelio tells Lisa. "I just feel like there's no way for me to thank you for everything. You showed me that I'm not alone — that I actually have somebody."

"What you don't realize is that you helped me, too," Lisa replies. "You have taught me a lot about being a teacher, but you've also taught me a lot about being a parent. Just the other day someone said, 'Is that your son?' And I said, 'Yes.' You always have a family here. You always will."

Audio produced for Morning Edition by Jasmyn Belcher. Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.